


First Sight

by Whisper132



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-19
Updated: 2007-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-23 20:23:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/254609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whisper132/pseuds/Whisper132
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirihara Akaya fell in love his first year at Rikkaidai and, from that day forward, everything in his life changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kirihara Akaya fell in love his first year at Rikkaidai and, from that day forward, everything in his life changed. Marui Bunta would never know it, but he was to blame for the broken bones and scarred faces of Kirihara's opponents, except for the incident with Tachibana Kippei – that asshole deserved what he got.

It was the first day of practice and Kirihara was going to prove his worth by challenging the Three Demons. Everyone in Kirihara's elementary school tennis club talked about the Three and bragged about how, when they were accepted to Rikkaidai, they were taking the monsters down and starting a new regime. As it turned out, Kirihara was one of four accepted to Rikkai and, of those four, the only one with enough guts to show himself on the court the first day of tryouts.

When Kirihara walked up to Yukimura and pointed his racquet in the second year's face, his wrist was taken prisoner by Sanada Genichirou's iron fist. "Learn your place," Sanada said, shoving Kirihara away.

Akaya rose from the ground and tried again. And again. And again, until Yanagi finally held Sanada back and let Yukimura handle things.

"You want to play us?" Yukimura asked, the same way you'd ask a child if he wanted a lollipop.

"I'll win," Kirihara said, confident he could take this scrawny, girly senpai.

"One-game matches, then." Yukimura patted Kirihara on the head. "You start, Renji." He tossed a tennis ball to Yanagi and walked over next to Sanada, whispering something in the other boy's ear. Sanada laughed and shook his head.

Kirihara took a point right off and was feeling pretty good about himself. Yukimura and Sanada weren't impressed, though, they just kept whispering to eachother and pointing and laughing. It took Kirihara two more points to realize that the first point he made was the last he'd get from Renji – and it was just a test point. The loss didn't sting too badly, though. Kirihara was close on a few and, if not for Yanagi's uncanny positioning after each and every one of Kirihara's shots, he might've taken a second point, maybe even a third.

The game against Sanada was more difficult, amazingly difficult, frighteningly difficult. He gave Kirihara the serve, probably his one act of mercy since Kirihara probably couldn't have returned Sanada's serve if he sprouted wings and could fly after the ball, but scored on the return. Kirihara managed a meager rally before the third point but that was because Yukimura told Sanada to let Kirihara get a little game play in; they couldn't see if he was any good if they didn't see him in action.

Playing a game against Yukimura was like playing a match against God. He knew where the ball was going and he moved his racquet so fast Kirihara could barely tell he'd done anything. And it all looked effortless, like Yukimura sighed and the ball turned mid-spin at his will, squirming on streams of air for his enjoyment. If Yukimura became upset, all the tennis balls in the world would deflate until he was happy again.

Kirihara tried, though; he dove for the ball and ran faster than he'd ever run in his life. He used his split step and dashed from corner to corner in futile attempts to score a point while Yukimura humored him now and then with a lob. At the end of the game, Yukimura hovered over Kirihara's fallen form and smiled. "That was good, Kirihara-kun. With a little more practice, you'll easily make the regulars next year." And then Yukimura was gone, swallowed up by Sanada and Yanagi in a group huddle while Kirihara stared up at clouds tinted brown from the heavy spring smog.

"Hey new kid, you gonna be there all day? We want to use the court." A shadow fell over Kirihara and he looked up into a face that was partly obscured by a giant green bubble. "Come on, I'll help ya up." A hand reached down and grabbed Kirihara's arm, yanking him to his feet. "He talked to you after the game; that's a good sign. He likes you."

Kirihara watched the bubble pop, revealing a grinning mouth. "Yeah," he said, "He likes me a whole lot." Akaya's knee still stung and he wanted to go clean the pebbles out of it, but this guy was looking at him so…normally. It wasn't pity like Yanagi-senpai and it wasn't contempt like Sanada-senpai. It was like this guy, even though he was in a regular's jersey and Kirihara was in too loose gym clothes, was thinking of him as an equal.

A fist punched Kirihara's cheek lightly. "Renji'll probably bring you some training suggestions tomorrow; do what he says and you'll be a regular in no time, new kid." A bubble slipped out of his senpai's mouth but only inflated halfway before popping.

"Bunta, you're supposed to be practicing not socializing!" Yukimura's voice cracked halfway through and Bubble-senpai snickered.

"See ya 'round, new kid."

Kirihara tried to tell his senpai that his name wasn't New Kid, but his throat caught when Bubble-senpai ran up to Yukimura and, laughing, swung an arm around his shoulder, whispered something, then ran to practice with the other regulars on the far courts. Kirihara couldn't help but want a smile that bright pointed at himself, just for a few minutes. Maybe then he'd be able to make it through to being a regular.

  
******

  
That was last time Marui Bunta spoke to Kirihara for weeks. After that, the self-proclaimed tensai only talked to the other regulars and one or two of his yearmates who were going to be regulars later in the year, or so the rumors said. On occasion, Marui would pass through the first years with Renji and they would quietly adjust a grip or realign a swing pattern. Marui never helped Kirihara, though, it was always Renji who stared Akaya down during swings, raising an eyebrow until Kirihara stopped his practice and fixed random things until he found what Yanagi-senpai thought was wrong. When the problem was fixed, Yanagi would move to the next freshman in line and the process would repeat.

Kirihara saw Marui helping the other group of freshman across the court. Marui didn't stare, he just grabbed the freshman, moved him into position, and moved on. Sometimes, if the problem was just a swing pattern, Marui would tap the Freshman's arm into place with his racquet. It was a good day at practice if you were in Marui-senpai's section or if you were picked out to learn volleys with Marui. Kirihara's luck sucked and so did his volleys so he was always in Yanagi-senpai's section for swing practice and always had to do rally practice in Sanada's group, which was really Yukimura's group but Yukimura usually paced up and down the practice grounds shouting orders while Sanada gave the slackers in his group laps. Kirihara considered it a good practice if he only had to do an extra twenty.

One day, a hot and muggy Tuesday, Kirihara's arm was grabbed and he found himself standing in front of Marui, whomever pulled him from swing practice was gone in the time it took Kirihara to reorient himself.

"Yukimura says you can do a pretty good split step," Marui said before popping a bubble. "With that kind of speed, you can't really do much with volleys – it'd be stupid to waste you at the net – but I've seen you play and you should at least know _something_ about netplay so you don't embarrass us." A bubble covered Marui's frown. "You've got half an hour to not suck. If you can keep up, you're in next year. Can't do it, we'll find another new kid that's just as good as you." Pop. "Yukimura'll be watching so do your best."

For half an hour, Kirihara tried and failed to become a volley master. He did, however, learn enough so Marui-senpai cracked a grin and ruffled his hair. "I think you'll be safe," Marui said. "You're nowhere near my genius, but who is?"

And then Marui was gone, walking toward a waiting Jackal and some other senpai with his hair back in a rattail. Rat-senpai flitted his fingers when he caught Kirihara staring, and Akaya quickly turned away, pretending to find 100 yen on the ground. Marui-senpai was cool. He was patient, skilled, and a winner – everything a senpai should be. He still didn't know Kirihara's name, though, and he still only smiled at other regulars; Kirihara would hurry up and be a regular, then he'd get a special smile, too.

  
******

  
Kirihara's first wet dream came on a Sunday night. When he woke up Monday morning he was sticky, confused, and wondering how he was supposed to keep his mom from thinking he'd wet the bed. He wasn't even sure why it happened. In his dream, he was at practice, picking up tennis balls, and Marui-senpai turned to him, smiled, and handed him a ball that had escaped his notice. When their hands touched, Kirihara woke up, covered in gross.

During English, Kirihara stared out the window and watched birds hop along the balcony railing. He couldn't figure the dream out, why it had elicited such a weird reaction from him. Marui-senpai was his senpai, not some girl on the TV; his body shouldn't go crazy just because they touched in some dream.

Thinking of the touch made Kirihara's stomach coil around itself, like he had to go to the bathroom and he was really, really hungry, all at once. And it was weird, because Marui-senpai didn't even know his name and had only talked to him those two times. As far as Marui-senpai knew or cared, Kirihara was still the New Kid that Yukimura was taking under his wing.

In the courtyard below, Kirihara saw a second year class doing laps around the baseball field. A head of pink hair caught his eye and he watched Marui grab Jackal and Niou's hands and drag them around the field. Niou managed to get his hand free pretty quickly, but Jackal let Marui drag him for half a lap before shaking free. When the lap was over, all three collapsed to the ground in fits of laughter while the PE instructor yelled at them.

Something bubbled up inside Kirihara, a small bead of resentment and anger that manifested in a snapped pencil. He was better than all of them; he didn't need anyone laughing with him or being his friend or smiling at him. Marui-senpai was a frigid asshole and Kirihara was going to ask Yukimura-senpai to let him play Marui, just so he could prove how crap the other boy was.

  
*****

  
Kirihara only lost because he was distracted. If Marui-senpai's shirt weren't flipping up all the time, Kirihara wouldn't have been blinded by his creamy, pasty stomach. And that Tsunawhatever was cheating. How was Kirihara supposed to get from the baseline to the net that fast? Even with his split step, he had to dive for the ball. Marui-senpai laughed every time Kirihara missed and started talking about what a genius he was and how great his moves were. Those times, with Marui lording over him from the other side of the net, Kirihara really wanted to take his racquet and slam it into Marui's kneecap, just to shut him up. Also, from the ground, Kirihara could see right up Marui's shorts and that was awkward and made Kirihara squirm a little on the pavement. The only consolation was that Marui collapsed onto the court after the final match and had to be carried away by Jackal. Kirihara could walk just fine; he wasn't even breathing hard.

"Pathetic," Yukimura said, walking up to Kirihara and looking down his nose. "You should have won that."

Yanagi-senpai whispered something in Yukimura's ear while Sanada scowled at Akaya and tried not to look like he was listening in. Finally, Yukimura turned and whispered in Sanada's ear and he nodded before stomping off.

"Don't get distracted again," Yukimura said, turning back to Kirihara. "Take fifty laps and think about the match. When you get back, we'll work on your split step." Then Yukimura smiled and ruffled Kirihara's hair. "We'll make a regular out of you yet, Akaya-kun."

Kirihara set his racquet down and began his laps. On the second half of the route, he could see Marui-senpai resting on a bench, snacking on a cake. It wasn't really fair that Marui got to eat snacks when everyone else was practicing, but Kirihara was good and didn't dwell on it. Marui-senpai and his distraction tactics were the reason Akaya was running these stupid laps in the first place.

"Akaya! Focus!" Kirihara swore Sanada's voice made the ground shake. It was creepy. He picked up his pace, though, so Sanada wouldn't yell at him again and so he could hurry up and have his practice session with Yukimura, who was nicer than Sanada, and who, unlike Marui-senpai, knew Kirihara's name.

  
*****

  
Rikkaidai won nationals and, when the seniors retired, Kirihara received his regular's jersey and the locker under Marui-senpai's.

"Hey Akaya, pass me one of those cupcakes, would ya?" Marui reached out his hand while his head was busy exploring the filth in his locker. "I thought I had some in here somewhere."

Kirihara stared at Marui's hand, wondering if his senpai realized that that was the first time, the first time in a year, that he'd called Kirihara anything other than new kid or hey you. "Senpai, I…"

"Huh?" Marui looked back then let out a huff. "I got something on my uniform or something? I sit in gum?" Marui whirled around, trying to get a good look at his own ass. "I don't see anything there. Look." He shuffled back and put his ass at level with Akaya's face.

Kirihara reached for a cupcake and shoved it into Marui's hand. "Here's the cupcake, senpai."

"Cool." Marui fished in his locker some more and pulled out a small candle. "Can't light it because Niou got matches banned, but here you go." He handed the cupcake back to Kirihara. "Welcome to the regulars."

And then the smile, a bright, wide smile just for Kirihara.

Niou ruined it by stealing Kirihara's cupcake and draping all over Marui-senpai. "Hey, you get some for all of us?" he asked, taking a big bite of the cupcake and handing it back. "Or are you sucking up so he won't take the singles spot all to himself?"

Kirihara didn't mean to kick Niou into the lockers; it just happened. Looking at the cupcake and remembering the smile that came with it, Kirihara couldn't control himself. "You ate my cupcake," he growled. "That was _mine_ and you ate it."

"It was just a cupcake. Chill." Niou stood up and rubbed where his head impacted the lockers. "I'll buy you another one."

"I don't want another one. I wanted that one." Kirihara's fists clenched and he moved a little closer to his senpai.

"Hey Akaya, let's go get some ice cream!" Marui quickly closed his locker and grabbed Kirihara's wrist. "I'll buy you something and we can put a real candle in it. Hurry before they close!"

As Marui tugged him away, Kirihara continued to glare at Niou. "I'll get you," he mouthed, not quite sure why, only knowing that it made him feel a little better to get the threat out. When the clubhouse was out of sight, Kirihara blinked his eyes a few times, wondering why they stung so much.

  
*****

Niou kept his distance from Kirihara, but he did tell Yukimura about the incident, earning Kirihara thirty laps with extra weights for fighting. The laps were worth it, though, because Niou-senpai was an asshole. Telling Yukimura this earned Akaya an extra forty laps with weights for disrespecting his senpai.

After the cupcake incident, Marui-senpai was too busy with doubles stuff to talk to Kirihara, even when Akaya made special efforts to linger at his locker until Marui got done practicing with Jackal. Finally, after a week had passed, Kirihara went to the ball cages in the gym to see if Marui was done and maybe wanted to get ice cream again. Kirihara wasn't too big on sweets, but Marui-senpai really enjoyed them and smiled a lot more when he was eating.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you keep practicing like that," Jackal said, walking up behind Marui and taking his racquet away. "Save it for tomorrow."

"It was embarrassing. I was totally wasted." Marui tried to get his racquet back, but Jackal held it out of reach.

"No more. You're going to get blisters." Jackal leaned forward, pinning Marui's arms to his side in a hug. "Don't let it bother you. Nobody wins against Yukimura."

"At least I scored a few points last year. I didn't even get that this year." Marui grumbled. Kirihara watched Marui's shoulders relax as he leaned back into Jackal's chest. "God, I suck."

"You don't suck, you're just not Yukimura." Jackal let go of Marui and handed him his racquet back. "If you were as good as Yukimura, you'd always be in singles and I'd get lonely." Kirihara hated Jackal's cheesy grin and how he ruffled Marui's hair, the same way buchou ruffled Kirihara's hair except wrong because Marui-senpai was giving Jackal a smile Kirihara hadn't seen before and it wasn't fair.

When the laughing started, Kirihara left, resolved to forget about smiles and senpai. He would focus on tennis and sealing singles three for himself. Doubles was stupid.

  
*****

  
The first game of the season, Kirihara made his debut in singles three. Marui and Jackal started the tournament off with a 6-0 win and Niou and Yagyuu continued the shutout. Everyone in the stands was talking about how powerful the Rikkai doubles teams were and how much of a connection they were showing on the court. If one more person said how great Jackal-senpai was and what a perfect partner he made for Marui-senpai, Kirihara was going to lose it.

He tried his best to ignore the twirly feeling in his gut whenever he thought about Marui-senpai. He didn't say Marui's name all break, valiantly dodging questions his sister asked about why he was working so hard on his tennis when he never really cared before and hey Akaya, do you have a girlfriend yet? Any crushes?

Kirihara watched TV so he knew what being gay was all about, and he wasn't any of it. He didn't flop his wrist around – bad tennis posture – and he didn't wear really bright floral shirts. He didn't listen to weird music and he didn't wear women's underwear. He was normal, 100% normal.

Still, despite not thinking about Marui-senpai and not being gay, there were the dreams, horrible, weird dreams where Marui-senpai would smile at him or touch him or, in one really good dream, kiss him. They left Kirihara shaking and sticky when he woke up, and he had to do his own wash now because his mother was tired of cleaning up after him. His dad said he was becoming a man and everything would be fine in a few years.

Kirihara didn't have a few years. He was going to dissolve into a pile of babbling goo if he didn't get Marui-senpai out of his head. Akaya wanted a nice girlfriend – maybe with short, pink hair – who liked tennis - girls were good at volleys, he heard – and would make him cupcakes every week. Someone just like Marui-senpai, only a girl, would be great.

"Wow, that pink haired kid from doubles two really looks like a girl," Kirihara heard a member of the other team say. "I wouldn't mind a piece of that, know what I'm saying?"

Kirihara's fingers itched and he gripped his racquet a little tighter.

"Maybe after the game we could go talk to him. See if he takes it like a girl, too."

Kirihara tapped his racquet on his shoulder to help him focus; his vision was getting a little blurry. "Hey," he called to the other team. "We gonna play or not?" He waited for his opponent to come forward. It was the guy who was talking about Marui-senpai. "Buchou looks bored, so I'll finish the game in ten minutes." He spun his racquet, all the while keeping his eyes trained on his opponent, memorizing his face. "Which?"

  
*****

  
He blinked and the match was over. The pervy guy was on the ground, clutching at his knee and trembled whenever Kirihara turned to look at him. Served him right.

"We'll have to talk about that new move of yours, Akaya." Yukimura took the racquet Kirihara hadn't realized he was holding so tightly. "Why don't you go with Genichirou and have a cool down run. This was our only match for today; we'll wait for you both on the bus." After a final pat to Kirihara's shoulder, Yukimura walked away, the team following behind him.

"Don't waste your strength on the lower ranked teams," Sanada said as they jogged. Kirihara had to go extra fast to keep up with Sanada's long legs. "You did well, though." Sanada picked up the pace and here was no more discussion.

When they got to the bus, the only free seats were one behind Niou and Yagyuu, next to some first year in a cheering uniform, or one next to a snoring and drooling Marui-senpai. Apparently Jackal's father picked him up while Sanada and Kirihara were gone.

Kirihara chose the seat behind Niou and Yagyuu.

"Hey there," Niou said, reaching back to give Kirihara's shoulder a light punch. "That was some match, huh?"

"Uh, sure." Akaya only remembered serving and hearing the ref call the game in his favor.

"We heard what those guys were talking about. Bunta was getting pretty pissed off, but you went ahead and saved him. Pretty smooth." Niou crooked his thumb in Marui's direction. "He's just pretending to sleep so he doesn't have to say thank you. Go wake his lazy ass up and demand some gratitude."

"Niou-kun, might I remind you of your language?" Yagyuu-senpai sounded tired, like he'd reminded Niou-senpai about his language a hundred times and knew it was a futile endeavor.

Niou shrugged. "I'm just trying to help him out."

Kirihara stood and leaned over the seat. "You just want to recline more, senpai." Kirihara ruffled Niou's hair, just because he knew he was quicker and could get to the safety of Marui's seat before Niou could reach him. "Thanks, senpai!" he called as he jumped into the seat, bumping into Marui.

"Hey," Marui yawned. "You did good today."

Kirihara watched as Marui stretched and his rumpled shirt rode up a bit. It did that in the dreams sometimes, only Marui didn't smell like sweat and dirt in the dreams. The sweat and dirt made it sexier, though, and Kirihara had to look away, back toward Niou, who was giving him a thumbs up and snickering. Kirihara was gonna get him someday.

Being bold, Kirihara reached out and pushed Marui's head onto his shoulder. "You can go ahead and sleep, senpai. You did good today, too."

"Of course I did," Marui sighed. "Cuz 'm a genius."

Kirihara tried to sleep too, if only to distract himself from the small line of drool slipping out of Marui's mouth and the heat of Marui's hand curled around his arm.


	2. Chapter 2

  
He couldn't help staring; his eyes naturally gravitated in Marui's direction whenever that pink head popped into his peripheral vision. It didn't matter if they were in the hallway or in the showers, Kirihara had to stare. It was only a week since the bus ride and Kirihara could still smell Marui's sweat on his shoulder, still feel the weight of Marui's head and the tickle of Marui's hair on his neck.

"Kirihara-kun, might I have a word with you?" Yagyuu tapped Kirihara on the shoulder and pointed toward a less crowded portion of the clubhouse. "It's quite important."

Marui was tying his shoes and talking to Jackal. He was probably going to smile soon. "Can it wait, senpai? I'm kind of busy." Kirihara licked his lips and adjusted his pants. The school uniform pants were fitting really weird lately; he'd have to talk to his mom and see if he could get some new ones made.

Yagyuu grabbed Kirihara's wrist and dragged him to the corner. "It's rather important, I'm afraid." He dumped Kirihara into a folding chair facing the corner and stood in front of him. "Yukimura has asked me to explain proper shower etiquette to you."

"Like don't drop the soap and stuff? I know all that, senpai, but thanks anyway. We done now?" Marui probably already gave Jackal the smile and was on his way to get pre-dinner dessert. Kirihara wanted to ask him out for ice cream.

"For example," Yagyuu grabbed Kirihara's chin and turned it back toward him, "one should not stare at one's teammate while he's bathing."

"I don't stare."

"Where is Marui-kun's birthmark?"

Kirihara should have known the question was a trick by the way Yagyuu shifted his glasses higher up on his nose. Still, Akaya's mom told him to always be truthful. His reply was immediate. "On his right leg, just below his ass." The birthmark looked a little like a bunny rabbit standing on its back legs. Kirihara thought it was cute and wanted to pet it to see if it was fuzzy like a bunny too.

"You aren't supposed to be looking there," Yagyuu said firmly. "If you must look, look above the waist."

"Why?" Kirihara turned to see if Marui was still there and growled when he only saw Niou and Yanagi-senpai.

Yagyuu turned him back again. "It's manners. No staring in the shower."

He supposed it _was_ kind of weird, even if he wasn't looking in a pervy way, like the way Niou-senpai looked at Yagyuu-senpai in the shower. He could not look at Marui-senpai if he wanted to. Resolute, he grinned up and said, "Okay, senpai, I won't stare. I didn't really mean to in the first place."

Yagyuu nodded and motioned for Kirihara to finish packing his things. As soon as he was out of the chair, Niou strode past him and settled down in it. The last thing Kirihara saw before Yanagi-senpai put his hands over Kirihara's eyes was Niou's fingers hooking through the beltloops of Yagyuu-senpai's trousers.

  
******

  
The wet bedsheets and erections at weird points in the day got on Kirihara's last nerve. He wanted his mom to do his laundry again and he wanted to be able to take off his practice uniform without making sure nobody, especially Marui-senpai, was watching.

"Fukubuchou, let me play you today. Everyone else sucks and I want to get better." He knew bugging Sanada was stupid, but there wasn't any other choice. Yanagi-senpai would just tell Akaya to work on this or that without actually playing him and Yukimura-buchou wasn't looking so hot lately so Kirihara didn't want to bug him. Sanada was the only choice and, really, if Kirihara could get to Sanada's level, then nothing would bother him, not stupid senpai and certainly not puberty.

"Go practice with the wall. I'm busy." Sanada strode past Kirihara and toward a group of freshmen. "There should not be balls lying on the courts! Twenty laps for all of you!"

"He seem extra pissy to you lately?" Niou asked, leaning forward and using Kirihara's head as a chinrest. "That's the third set of laps he's given 'em today."

"If they didn't suck, they wouldn't have to run laps," Kirihara said with certainty.

"What's eating you?" Niou turned Kirihara around by the shoulders and stared down at him. "You've been in a shitty mood all week. Yagyuu said you kicked him in the shin."

"Yagyuu-senpai should keep his mouth shut," Kirihara growled. During the incident in question, Yagyuu made a stray comment about Marui's weight going up due to cake consumption and everyone on the team laughed but Marui, who tried to crawl into his locker and die. Kirihara didn't think the joke was funny, either, and let Yagyuu know in the best way he knew how: pain.

"Puri. If you stopped acting like a spoiled brat and fessed up, maybe you'd feel a little better." Niou shoved Kirihara back into a wall. "Until you get your shit straight, stop making the rest of us look bad."

It took a minute of reorientation and neck adjustment for Kirihara to realize that his senpai's mole was on the wrong side.

  
******

  
The day Yukimura collapsed, everything at Rikkai stood still, except for Marui, who crumpled to the ground and stayed there until Kirihara and Jackal worked together to pick him up and get him on the team bus, bound for the hospital. When they got there, Sanada was sitting in a corner, hat crumpled in his hands. No one spoke to him or even made an attempt to go within ten feet of him. When he was ready, he'd talk. Until then, the team waited in the echo of Marui's sobs.

"It's going to be okay," Jackal whispered, holding Marui in his lap and patting his back. "It's just exhaustion or something; he'll be fine."

Kirihara didn't think buchou was going to be fine, and he didn't think that such an obvious lie was going to make Marui-senpai feel any better. Akaya rose from his chair and slowly dragged himself across the seating aisle to Jackal and Marui. When he got to his senpai, he let his legs buckle, grabbed onto Marui's waist, and cried into his senpai's hip. He was surprised, a little later, when Niou engulfed him in a hug and he felt teardrops falling on the back of his neck. They remained a large, weeping huddle until Yukimura's parents came to deliver the news.

  
*****

  
Kirihara stared at his lifemate, Kuma-kun, trying to seek wisdom in the stuffed bear's scratched button eyes. Kuma-kun knew all the answers, but getting the answers took some time because Kuma-kun had to send them directly to Kirihara's brain.

"That senpai I keep telling you about, I think I like him." Kirihara grabbed the bear's shoulders. "I know, I know, you probably knew last year and were waiting for me to figure it out, right? But it's embarrassing and senpai plays doubles with Jackal and I play singles and he's a guy so it's weird, but I can't get him out of my head." He pulled at his hair, just to see if that might work. Nope.

He flopped on the bed and pulled Kuma-kun to his chest in a hug. "I thought I really wanted to be friends with him, but…" He remembered his latest dream, where it was Marui dropping to the ground in a faint, not Yukimura, and all he could do was watch as Marui's eyes slid closed and never reopened. "Ne, Kuma-kun, do you think Marui-senpai would be willing to have a sex change so we can be normal? I mean, I like him as a guy and stuff, but mom and dad would probably want him to be a girl so he can have babies."

There was a knock on Kirihara's door just before his sister barged in. "Hey, you wanna come out of the closet a little quieter so mom and dad don't hear you?"

He tucked Kuma away and sat up, cross-legged, on the bed. "You're not gonna tell them, are you? I'll just deny it." Kirihara's shoulders dropped. "He doesn't like me like that anyway."

His sister slid the door shut and locked it. "You're pathetic, Aka-baka." She ruffled his hair like buchou did after a good match. "I can't tell mom and dad; they'll probably try to adapt to your lifestyle or something. You know, get involved."

When his sister started cheerleading in high school, their mother brought out all her old gear and tried to 'pass on the knowledge.' If his dad had any 'exploratory phases,' Akaya didn't want to hear about it.

"Thanks, I guess. You want something to keep you quiet?" The Kirihara siblings had a long history of bribery and blackmail that stretched back to the famous Glue in Milk incident that Akaya never fessed up to.

"Nah." She sat down at the end of the bed and stared at Akaya's miserable, huddled form. "You sure you're sure, though? I'm not judging, it's just a lot to go through, and you're probably ready to screw anything with an opening at your age."

"Am not!" He hit her with Kuma-kun, then set the bear in his lap to hide the fact that thinking about screwing Marui, even after last night's dream, was enough to make his pants fit weird. He knew, from talk amongst last year's senpai, that the right thing to do would be to kick his sister out of the room and stroke away his erection, but the one time he tried it felt okay, but not too good, and he must've been doing it wrong because he got bored halfway through and stopped to go play video games instead.

"Whatever." The awesome thing about his sister was that she believed him unconditionally. He could begin building a fort, telling her that aliens were landing, and she'd help him build until he confessed to lying. "If you need anything, let me know." Reaching into her pocket, she took out two condoms. "Don't be stupid with these," she warned.

Kirihara took the pink and green bits of latex and tucked them into his pillowcase, completely disgusted but touched. "Thanks, Nee-san. You rock."

She flicked his nose. "I know. Dinner's almost ready, so don't be late." Then she left, closing the door behind her.

  
*******

  
Now, whenever Kirihara saw Marui, he thought of his pillowcase and the gift hidden there. He wondered if he would be wearing them or if Marui-senpai would and if gay sex was better than masturbating and, if it wasn't, could they just skip the whole uncomfortable sounding process and maybe just kiss – once Marui knew about his feelings and Jackal-senpai was out of the way and Kirihara didn't feel bad for forgetting about Yukimura-buchou's condition while he stared at the back of Marui-senpai's neck during practice.

"Breathe." A fist bopped Kirihara on the head and his visions of Marui, naked and panting, were replaced by the Rikkai tennis court and Niou-senpai, who was laughing at him.

"I am breathing." He was panting, even, scared half to death by his idiot senpai. "What do you want?" Normally Kirihara was respectful to the other members of the team, but Niou-senpai, when he was Niou-senpai and not Yagyuu-senpai pretending to be Niou-senpai, didn't deserve any respect. He said things that were insulting but made no sense. When Yagyuu-senpai said something insulting, he tried to tone it down with functional advice, like telling Kirihara that picking his shorts out of his ass in public was better than letting them ride up all practice.

"You've never gone out with a girl, have you?" Niou looked down at him through eyes squinting to keep out the sun. "You should go on a real date before you do something stupid, like decide you're gay for a cake munching bastard."

Kirihara tried to sock Niou in the stomach but the older boy dodged. "Marui-senpai is not a bastard. He's just confident." Yeah, sometimes that confidence came off a little rougher and meaner than it needed to, but Marui would never really be mean to anyone. How could he when he had that smile?

Niou bopped him on the head again. "Date a girl before you fuck your life over and piss your parents off." He took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Go on one date and I'll give you Marui's address."

The piece of paper Niou held over Kirihara's head sparkled in the sun like gold. "Just one?" he asked, wondering if he could reach up and snatch the paper.

"One."

Kirihara licked his lips. He could handle a date with one stupid girl. All he had to do was find one that didn't make him feel sick inside when he looked at her.

  
********

Sugihara Ami was a good choice. She was part of the tea ceremony club and did well in English. She also asked Kirihara out two days after he made the stupid deal with Niou-senpai. She was really brave, pulling him aside in the hall and stuttering out an invitation to an ice cream shop after school the next day. Kirihara readily agreed, honored that someone came to _him_ and wanted to go out with _him_. And, what was more, Sugihara-chan looked nothing like Marui-senpai.

Kirihara skipped out on practice and combed his hair for the date. His mom would say he looked like gentleman; his sister would say he looked like a half-rate yakuza.

"You look nice," Sugihara-chan said, taking out her wallet to pay for their dessert. She insisted that she pay, since she was the one to ask him out. Kirihara didn’t think that Sugihara-chan was that modern of a girl – she _was_ in the tea ceremony club – but he didn't complain because he didn't want to spend his allowance on ice cream when he really wanted a new pair of shoes.

Kirihara gave Sugihara-chan a once-over. She didn’t look too bad, he guessed. Her chest was one of the largest in their class, but she kept it hidden under her school blouse and sweatervest. If she were really a modern girl, she'd show some skin. "You look nice, too," he said when it looked like she was waiting for him to say something. "And thanks for the ice cream."

She smiled and it was pretty, but Kirihara's stomach didn't turn cartwheels and his pants didn’t fit weird. Marui-senpai smiled better. They ate their desserts in a comfortable silence.

"I have a confession," she said, and Kirihara was hoping she wasn't in love with him because even though she bought him ice cream, she was pretty boring. "I was wondering if you could give this to Sanada-san." She produced an envelope from her purse and held it toward Kirihara. "I know it's rude of me to ask, but…"

Kirihara took the envelope and tore it up. "I'm not fukubuchou's secretary and he wouldn't go out with you. He's got someone better."

Sugihara-chan broke down in tears and Akaya left to go mope in the park.

Girls were crap, and so was fukubuchou. He was going to kick Niou-senpai for making him go on a stupid date with a stupid girl who didn't like him anyway.

"Hey! Kirihara!"

Akaya stopped stomping down the street when Marui's voice cut through the buzz of the crowd. "Senpai!" he called back, waving and rubbing at his eyes, which weren't full of tears, just pollen.

"I just finished ordering a cake for Seiichi. Wanna go get some lunch? I know this great buffet."

Marui smiled and Kirihara's stomach dropped into his groin, pressing at his zipper. "Sure!" He grabbed onto Marui's arm to make sure he wasn't in some post girl-date dream. "I'll pay."

  
*****

  
Kirihara tried on the pink condom, just to see what it felt like. It was slippery in his hands, and it took him a few goes to figure out he was supposed to roll it on and not pull, but once it was on it wasn't so bad, really. He felt himself through the latex and marveled because it felt like someone else was touching him. The slickness of the lubricant dulled the sensation in his fingers and, with a little lotion added, his hand slid quickly up and down.

With his eyes closed, he remembered Marui's tongue as it wrapped around his chopsticks, licking up hoisun sauce. Up and down, over and around. He remembered the same tongue smoothing out an ice cream cone, picking up long lines of chocolate-vanilla swirl. Sugihara-chan's tongue never looked as sexy as Marui's tongue did, working away at the ice cream while he moaned in delight.

Marui's moaning lingered on his mind as a pressing in his groin gave way to something fantastic and new. He understood, now, why he sometimes heard those grunts in the showers or in the bathroom. He was willing to bet, though, that Marui-senpai, being a tensai, could make it feel a thousand times better


	3. Chapter 3

  
Yukimura didn't look like he was getting any better. If anything, he looked paler, more skeletal since the last time Kirihara visited. "Hey buchou." Kirihara set a small bouquet of flowers down next to Yukimura's bed. "I cut my last class to come see you before everyone else. I kinda wanted to talk to you about something." Kirihara looked at the oxygen mask sitting next to Yukimura's bed. "If you're up for it."

"Sit." A bony hand patted the visitor's chair. "What's the matter?"

He brought his last condom with him so he could ask Yukimura about it. He only had one left, and he wanted to make sure he didn't screw things up, so he decided to ask Yukimura, who knew everything. It was in his back pocket, and he hoped there wasn't an outline or anything visible while he walked. He'd probably die if one of the nice old ladies at the hospital talked to him about STD tests or something.

"Akaya, is there a problem?" Yukimura looked like he could see all the thoughts running around in Akaya's brain, which made it easier for Kirihara to relax into the chair. This was buchou; buchou could fix anything.

"Ne buchou, so you know how you like fukubuchou and he likes you?" The team never talked about it, but Kirihara heard noises from the clubhouse when he arrived early for morning practice one day. He never came early again. "There was a time when you didn't know if he liked you, right? When you were just on the same team and he didn't know you existed, right?"

Yukimura laughed and Kirihara wished fukubuchou were there to hear it - maybe then he'd cut back on the laps. "Sanada was difficult," Yukimura said, leaning back into his pillows. "And dense. He was very dense. I had to be very forward when talking to him or he wouldn't understand." The memory seemed to make Yukimura happy. Kirihara wondered if he and fukubuchou got a lot of alone time now that buchou was in the hospital. Probably not.

"So, if I liked someone, and they weren't dumb like fukubuchou, how should I…" He couldn't finish because his cheeks were burning and his stomach was a giant knot. Marui-senpai and Yukimura-buchou were friends, best friends, and maybe coming to visit was a bad idea.

"This is about Marui, yes?" Yukimura shifted and put his hand on Kirihara's shoulder. "He's good at volleys, but dumb about people. You'll have to help him out a bit. He likes you; he just doesn't know it yet."

"But he and Jackal-senpai-"

Yukimura gave Kirihara's arm another pat. "Jackal isn't like that. They're just friends."

"Friends don't grab you on the ass after a game," Kirihara grumbled, wondering, after he said it, if it was okay to say ass in a hospital or if he should've said one of the cutesy words his mom used to describe it. Bumbum just didn't sound right, though. Besides, Marui-senpai didn't have a bumbum; he had an ass, nice and round and firm. "Buchou?"

"Yes Akaya?"

"Do you think it would be okay if I touched Marui-senpai's ass too?" The thought of touching Marui's ass inevitably lead to holding Marui's ass, then digging his fingers in as he pulled them so tightly together he'd be able to feel –

"The team will be here soon, Akaya." Yukimura sent a polite nod to Kirihara's inflating crotch. "You might want to calm down a little or Genichirou will get the wrong idea."

Fukubuchou had a really nice ass, too. It was different from Marui-senpai's, but Yukimura-buchou probably felt the same way about it that Kirihara felt about Marui's. "Hey buchou, does fukubuchou come visit you by himself? You know, for that kind of stuff?"

"Sanada is busy running the team for me." Yukimura was blushing, so Kirihara figured buchou was a big liar and he and fukubuchou were doing all sorts of kissy, touchy stuff.

"Can I be Singles Three this year?" he asked, looking at the white, white walls of the room. How did buchou not go crazy with all this white? "I don't wanna play doubles – unless you'll let me play with Marui-senpai, then I'll do anything."

"We want to win, Akaya. You will be Singles Three so long as your record warrants it. The final decision is Sanada's."

His shoulders sank. "I'll be an alternate forever," he grumbled. "Fukubuchou hates me."

"Sanada doesn't hate you." Yukimura patted the edge of the bed and Kirihara trudged over. "He's frustrated right now. We both are."

Kirihara reached into his pocket and removed the condom. "Here. I was gonna save it for me and Marui-senpai, but you need it more." He tucked the condom into Yukimura's hand. "I'll, uh, get the team to leave early or something. Just remember to mention that I helped you so fukubuchou makes me Singles Three." He didn't even know if, in his current condition, fukubuchou and buchou could…iew. Who would want to do that with fukubuchou?

"You can be Singles Two until I get back." Buchou smiled and slipped the condom under his pillow. "The nurse should be coming to change out my IV; you'll have to wait in the lobby." Yukimura took hold of Kirihara's hand and squeezed. Buchou's smile lit up the room, even if his grip was no stronger than a toddler's.

  
********

  
"I went on the date, so you owe me the address." Kirihara, realizing that he'd gone on that stupid girl-date and Niou hadn't paid up, cornered his senpai after a wonderfully lap-free practice. He stuck his hand out and waited for his prize.

Niou scratched at the back of his head and rolled his eyes. "You're still going on about that?" He looked over to where Yagyuu waited, holding both their bags. "It's at my house. I'll bring it tomorrow."

Kirihara knew better than to trust Niou's word. "I'll go with you to get it. We can go now."

Niou rolled his head back and sighed at the sky. "Look. You don't want to come over to my place and I don’t want you there. Just wait. I'll give you my racquet as collateral or something."

"I don't want your racquet; I want the address. We made a deal, now pay up."

"Is there a problem, Niou-kun?" Yagyuu handed Niou his bag and positioned himself between Niou and Kirihara. "You're going to be late for your bus if you don't hurry."

Niou adjusted his bag with a grunt. "Shit. And she's home today, too." He turned to Kirihara. "Come with if you want to, but don't expect anything pretty." He moved to go but was halted by Yagyuu's hand on his shoulder.

"Is that really okay, Niou-kun? I can probably-"

Niou shrugged the hand off. "It's fine. He's stupid, so he needs a nice visual to knock him out of his little dreamworld."

Yagyuu didn't say anything as he turned to go, but he did give Kirihara one hell of glare.

"Hurry up," Niou said, starting a jog toward the campus gates. "She'll have my ass on a platter if I'm late again."

  
*********

  
When Kirihara went to Niou's house, he had to stay in the kitchen under the supervision of his senpai's mother. She stared at him, grimacing behind a cup of tea. "You're on Masaharu's tennis team?"

"Yes, Niou-san." Kirihara wanted to fidget but his mother told him that fidgeting in front of adults who were trying to have a serious conversation with you was rude.

"Do you play doubles too?" She said 'doubles' and her eyes narrowed from beady suspicion to something that hit Kirihara's stomach with all the force of Yagyuu-senpai's Laser Beam.

"I play singles," he said trying to emphasize 'singles' but not really sure why. "I'm Singles Two until buchou gets back, and I'll be Singles One next year."

"Tell me," she said, pouring a cup of tea for Kirihara, "do you know Yagyuu Hiroshi?"

Trap. Absolutely a trap. Kirihara didn't know for what, Niou-san was scary and confusing on a completely different level from fukubuchou or buchou, but he knew that whatever he said, she was going to use for evil purposes. He worded his response as carefully and casually as he could. "Yeah. Yagyuu-senpai's on our team. He plays doubles with Niou-senpai."

"And would you say he's a good friend to my son?"

Kirihara wondered why it was taking his senpai so long to get a stupid piece of paper. "I only see them at practice, so I really don't know." He shrugged. "I haven't seen them fight or anything."

"I'm back." Niou stormed into the kitchen, grabbed Kirihara's arm, and pulled him out of the house. "We'll be back," he called.

"Stay where I can see you!" she called back.

"Uh, senpai…" Kirihara didn't exactly want to demand the paper so he could run away from Niou-senpai's amazingly uncomfortable house, but he didn't have many other options.

"She knows," Niou said, holding the paper in his hand, away from Kirihara's reach. "She walked in on us kissing and went batshit. Yagyuu's parents know, too, but they're dealing." He looked at the paper in his hand. "I don't mind it; I never listened to them anyway, but what if Yagyuu's family reacted that way?" He stared down and Kirihara swore Niou-senpai's eyes were playing with his organs. "What if Marui's family isn't so hot on a guy crushing on their son? You think of that?"

Kirihara hadn't, but he couldn't imagine Marui-senpai's mother, who randomly sent Marui to school with extra snacks for the team, turning into the laser-eyed lady back in the kitchen. "I won't do anything weird," he said, jumping up for the paper and missing. "I just wanna talk to him." Something burned in his stomach, a painful anxiety that he'd been trying to ignore. "He doesn't have to like me back," he said, looking down to stare at a rock on the pavement. "I just want to be closer to him, that's all."

Niou grabbed his chin and stared at Kirihara so hard Akaya thought Niou-senpai must be reading everything in his brain. If anyone on the team could do it, Niou-senpai could.

Finally, Niou tucked the paper into Kirihara's palm. "Good luck kid," he said. "I better get in before the harpy starts yelling." With a wave, Niou disappeared into his house. Kirihara remained on the sidewalk, staring at the address on the paper, marveling at the phone number, making note of Niou-senpai's shaky characters: _Don't fuck it up._

  
******

  
Kirihara didn't allow himself to hesitate. The next Saturday, he made his way to Marui's house, just to see what it looked like and if Jackal was there.

Marui was in the front yard, running after two younger boys. "Get back here you little rats! I'm not supposed to take those off!"

One of the boys, they both looked the same from Kirihara's distance, waved what looked like a wrist weight in the air. "Bunta's in trouble," the kid sang before tossing the weight to the other kid.

"You can't catch us," the other boy sang, spinning in a circle and laughing when he toppled to the ground.

Kirihara walked a little closer. The idea was to catch Marui-senpai's eye while pretending to just be walking through. If all went well, Marui would ask him in for lunch, then he'd get to see Marui-senpai's room, maybe he'd even get to touch Marui-senpai's bed.

"Akaya! Hey, Akaya!" The plan worked. Marui hailed Kirihara when he was just a few meters away.

"Marui-senpai, I didn't know you lived around here." He practiced the line all morning until it sounded natural. Thinking on it, he probably should've just waved.

"Don't just stand there; help me! Tackle that brat before he makes off with my weights." Marui was holding one of his brothers down, sitting on his chest and fielding kicks and punches. "Hurry!"

Kirihara looked for a buzzed pink head and ran toward it. With a primal yell, he jumped toward the kid, pinning him to the ground. "Gotcha," he snickered, grabbing Marui-senpai's weights out of the kid's hands. "Don't take these again or I'll come find you," he warned, hoping he still looked menacing after the small sprint and dive to the ground.

"Thanks." Marui walked up, dragging what Kirihara now noted to be one of his twin brothers. "Yukimura'll kill me if he knows I took those off. Our secret, okay?" He reached down and hooked Kirihara's pinky with his own. "What're you doing around here anyway?"

Kirihara's pinky burned and he couldn’t' remember any of the cool-sounding lies he'd practiced. "Just stopping by," he said.

"Oh. Cool." Marui released his brother and shoved him toward his twin. "Do your homework or something." The two boys gave Akaya a dirty look then ran inside, screaming that Bunta-nii hit them and they were going to be cripples now.

It was only in the awkward silence that followed that Kirihara noticed Marui-senpai didn't have a shirt on, or any pants, just a pair of really cute boxers with lollipops on them. "You should put clothes on before you go out, senpai. It's indecent." There were probably pervy neighbors staring out through their curtains, eyeing the gap of Marui-senpai's boxers, waiting to catch a peek. Kirihara moved to cut off the view, pushing Marui toward the front door.

"It's no big deal." Marui shrugged off Kirihara's hands. "There's nothing but old folks on this street. I could walk around naked and they wouldn't care."

"It's weird talking to someone without their pants on," Kirihara said, resolutely not thinking about how his hands were going to smell like Marui's shoulders, or if Marui ever _did_ walk around naked and, if so, were there houses for sale in the neighborhood because Kirihara's mom was saying that their house was getting run down and a newer model would be nice.

"Bunta! Get in this house right now!" A shoe flew out of the front door and hit Marui on the head. "I didn't raise my son to go running around in his underwear for all the world to see."

Marui-senpai picked up the shoe and gave Kirihara a smile that made Akaya's stomach drop low and press against his groin. "Guess the whole nudity thing is out then, huh? Come on, you can have lunch with us."

It took Kirihara until the genkan to realize that Marui was holding his hand, dragging him forward while he tried to stop thinking about Bunta naked and smiling, rolling on the lawn while a hose showered him with cool water. He was going to have trouble sleeping that night.

  
****

He stared at his math book, wondering why he had to say he was having trouble in math when he was actually ahead on the homework. Couldn't he have said English? He sucked at English. Then again, if Marui-senpai was going to be tutoring him, Kirihara wouldn't really be able to pay much attention, so maybe math was a good idea.

After a wonderful lunch, Marui-senpai's mother started asking Akaya all manner of questions. How did he like the tennis team? What kinds of lunches did he like? How was school? Marui-senpai tried to get her to stop being so nosy, but Kirihara didn't really mind. Marui-san was nice and she made grilled yellowtail that tasted like no yellowtail Kirihara'd ever eaten before. He could see where Marui-senpai got his appreciation of good food.

"Bunta can tutor you if you ever have any problems," she said. Marui-senpai argued with her for a bit, but she hit him on the shoulder with a towel and he sank back into his chair and grumbled out an agreement.

Now, the next day, Kirihara was going to Marui-senpai's to study. In Marui-senpai's room. Alone.

He brushed his teeth three times that morning and gargled twice. He combed his hair with extra care, even though it always curled up when it dried. He wore clean pants and a shirt without holes in it. He even used some rubbing alcohol to clean his calculator of spilled Ponta. His first trip into Marui-senpai's room was going to be a stepping stone to a bright, wonderful friendship with Marui-senpai; one filled with smiles and maybe even ass touching.

"You going somewhere?" his sister asked as he double checked his backpack. "Hot date?"

"Shut up." His math book was there, so was his notebook. Did he have enough pencils? Were they sharp? Oh, they were mechanical, even better.

"You already use up that stuff I gave you?" She walked into the room and closed the door. "If you need more, let me know."

"I _said_ shut up. I don't need any more of those." His cheeks stung and his stomach felt queasy. If she ever found out that he used one, alone, she would laugh at him, and he couldn’t tell her about buchou and fukubuchou because it wasn't his place to be saying stuff like that. "I'm going to senpai's to study, so I might be late. Tell mom."

"She'll be thrilled to hear her little boy's on his first date." She gave him a hug and patted him on the back.

"It's not a date; it's studying, and I already went on my first date, so leave me alone." Everyone in his family, including the distant relatives who lived in Hokkaido, knew about Kirihara's first, horrible date. They sent him cards and congratulatory emails, welcoming him into the world of men. Kirihara didn't tell them that the girl just wanted to get a date with Sanada, then he would've had to sit through consolation emails and talks about how he was better off without her.

"That was just practice," she said. "It's not a date until you both want to be there." She reached into her pocket and pressed another condom into Kirihara's hand. "You shouldn't waste these; they're not cheap." She eyed Akaya's trash can and grinned. "I'll go with you to buy stuff when it's time. That way, you won't be embarrassed or anything."

Kirihara cursed himself for his stupidity. Of course someone would notice a fluorescent condom in his trash can. Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Thanks," he grumbled, shoulders sinking in shame. "I'll let you know." First, though, he was going to concentrate on being friends with his senpai, close friends, then he would figure out how to get into the kissing and the touching and the naked touching and kissing.

"Hey!" A pillow hit Akaya on the head. "Stop daydreaming and get your ass out of here before he thinks you've stood him up."

Kirihara looked at the clock, grabbed his backpack, and shouted, "Don't touch my stuff!" as he ran out of the house.


	4. D1 Interlude

He didn't think - in hindsight, that was probably a bad idea - he just let the prickly sensation in his stomach lead him. They were in his room, discussing doubles formations and Sanada's hat hair. Yagyuu thought it would go away with a comb, and Niou thought it was permanent damage and Yukimura had some weird kink for it, that was why he kept stealing Sanada's hat during practice, pretending to inspect it and mentioning that some weights sewn to the inside would help Sanada's balance.

Yagyuu didn't argue, which was also part of the problem. He didn't complain when Niou's hands reached under his shirt, and all he did was whisper Niou's name when the shirt was pulled off and tossed aside, somewhere in the vicinity of Niou's desk. The only thing Niou could really remember about their conversation, pre-kiss, was that Yagyuu smiled at him and said, "You too, Niou-kun," before sliding Niou's shirt off and pulling him forward so they rested chest to chest.

Had he known, he would've locked to door, or kept his shirt on. Niou wasn't an idiot; he knew how to keep things a secret and how to prepare schemes so nobody would be the wiser. He wasn't prepared for this though, and that's why it went wrong.

"Masaharu, I brought-"

She always entered his room without knocking, so it was also her fault, in part, that she found them like that, Yagyuu's hand on his ass, their mouths slurping at one another like dogs at a water bowl. If she'd knocked, then he could've put on a shirt, or at least hid his erection.

He didn't expect her to throw a cup of hot tea on them, expected, even less, for her to physically pull him off of Yagyuu and throw him against a wall. He didn't know she was that strong, really.

Yagyuu made a run for it, leaving his shirt but taking his tennis bag. He apologized as he ran, but Niou doubted his mother heard it above her own hollering. How could you? Are you insane? I didn't raise my son to be like this.

She called his father, and he left the office early, but only by an hour. Niou sat at the kitchen table while they stared at him, no one saying anything. His father was holding his mother's hand, rubbing the back of it while he stared at his son with an anger that surpassed any Niou'd ever seen, even counting that time he shaved his sister's head in the third grade.

Finally, the rules spilled forth: home by seven, no friends in your room, we're calling his parents, don't tell anyone about this, don't expect to live here long after high school if you keep this disgraceful habit up.

In hindsight, had he known it would be this way, he might have asked if they could study at Yagyuu's place, where his parents knocked and nobody came home until eight. He still would've done it, though, because staying away felt wrong, and even the scars left from the boiling hot tea weren't enough to tear him away from Yagyuu for long.


	5. Chapter 5

  
"What's up with you? I know you're not _this_ dumb." Marui popped a bubble in Kirihara's ear and tapped his finger on the page of practice problems that lay between them. "You're not even adding right. Two plus six is eight, not five."

"Uh, sorry senpai. I'm kind of tired." In truth, Kirihara couldn't think around the toe that was touching his ankle. Marui probably didn't even notice the contact, but Kirihara felt it like a brand to his skin. If the world was a perfect place, Marui would slide his foot over Kirihara's ankle and start rubbing at Kirihara's calf. Kirihara would pretend not to notice for a while, then he'd start edging closer and would ask about a problem. Marui would hook his leg over Akaya's body and throw the math across the room before they started kissing and rolling on the floor.

"Hey, you falling asleep on me?" Marui picked up the math notes and hit Kirihara on the arm. "I'm giving up valuable time for you, so pay attention."

"Uh, no. I'm fine." Kirihara hastily wrote some answers down, making sure he got them right. It was a little easier to think now that Marui moved his toe.

"Cool. When we get this done, we can go play video games downstairs. I've got some really cool stuff but I can't play any of it with the brats because mom says it's too bloody." Marui snickered and leaned forward until his nose was nearly touching Akaya's. "Consider it payback for helping you. You owe me three hours of video games. Okay?"

Kirihara nodded because his voice wouldn't work. Nothing worked except his heart, which steadily pumped blood directly to his groin, bypassing all other organs. This was the part of the dream where Marui leaned forward just a bit more and they kissed and rubbed against eachother. Then they played tennis against buchou and fukubuchou and won.

"Mom can make us some snacks," Marui continued, either not noticing that Kirihara was turning red and shaking from the effort of not touching his senpai, or being extremely cruel and not caring. "I'll go let her know while you do those last ones. Take your time and stop making dumb mistakes." Marui smiled and patted Kirihara on the arm before running out of the room, allowing Kirihara time to breathe and verify that his pants were still clean.

  
*****

  
Marui-senpai was cute, but a cheating bastard. Every time Kirihara was about to take one of Marui-senpai's men down, Marui would snicker or move on the floor, which distracted Kirihara because clearly Marui-senpai was going to throw down the controller at any minute and announce that the games were boring and wouldn’t Akaya like to play some better ones back in his room?

"You don't run onto the sword, Akaya; you run away from it." Marui popped a bubble and reached for the cup of weird blue something his mother brought them. Marui was on his third glass, but Kirihara had one sip of the liquid sugar and couldn’t take any more. "You're not bored are you? I've got few more games we can try."

"I'm not bored; I'm just not very good." He could kick ass at the arcade or when he played against the computer, but he simply wasn't going to win against Marui-senpai when Marui's sweatpants were sliding further and further down his hip the closer he scooted to the television. It was really cute how Marui-senpai tried to get a better view by tilting his head, as if he could see past the top rim of the television, and he made the sexiest noises when one of his shots hit one of Kirihara's men; it was a cross between a gasp of ecstasy and a hoot. Kirihara was betting Marui-senpai would make a similar noise if Kirihara's hands tickled at the curve of his back currently exposed above his uncovered boxers.

Marui turned and winked. "Then it's your senpai's job to teach you everything you need to know!" He saluted and popped a bubble. "Who better than a video game tensai to teach you, right?"

"Can we pause the game, senpai? I need to go to the bathroom." If he didn't step away, he was going to embarrass himself, even though this was the perfect place for Marui-senpai to notice his discomfort and ask if he needed any assistance, because there were a lot of things Kirihara would like his tensai senpai to teach him, but none of them had anything to do with video games.

"Is it the chili chips? They get me sometimes, too." Marui patted his stomach. "You build up a tolerance, though, and we've got some stomach stuff in the medicine cabinet. Help yourself."

Kirihara nodded and scuttled away toward the back of the house.

"Don't forget to use the air freshener when you're done!" Marui called, ruining any chance Akaya had of maintaining his dignity. He heard the twins snicker at him from upstairs while Marui-san asked Bunta if she should get out a chair pad for poor Kirihara-kun.

  
******

  
"How's your stomach holding up?" Marui asked at Monday's practice. "Those chips really did a number on you, huh? You had to go, like, five times in two hours." He leaned back and took a look at Kirihara's ass. "Sitting in class must've sucked."

"What're you checking out his ass for?" Niou walked up, slipping an arm over Marui's shoulders. Kirihara hated that Marui-senpai didn't shrug that ugly, too-skinny, conniving arm off.

"Akaya ate some of my chili chips," Marui snickered.

Niou's eyes widened. "You're braver than I thought," he said and removed his arm from around Marui to pat Kirihara on the shoulder. "Sanada ate three and was in the bathroom for half an hour.

"He ate a whole bowl," Marui said. Kirihara liked the way his senpai smiled, like Kirihara had accomplished something great and Marui was proud of him. It would be better if Marui were proud of Akaya for something other than eating some stupid chips that weren't really all that spicy.

"We're supposed to be warming up!" Jackal-senpai ran over and grabbed Marui's arm. "Or did you forget our talk with Sanada this morning?"

Marui rolled his eyes and waved as Jackal pulled him away. "Don't forget you still owe me some video game time!"

Once Marui was gone, Niou hooked his arm around Akaya's. "Let's warm up together, kouhai-kun. Yagyuu caught something from his cousin so he's not here today. I'm lonely." Kirihara suspected Niou-senpai was lonely the same way a snake's stomach was lonely without a mouse in it.

"Niou! Kirihara! Stop slacking off!"

Kirihara jumped at Sanada's yell and was saying, "Yes fukubuchou!" before he could remind himself that he hated fukubuchou because he was in a stable relationship and all Kirihara had was an invitation to play video games in a house full of people who thought he had delicate digestion.

"So, you ate some chili chips, huh?" Niou tugged Kirihara toward an open court. "Spent a lot of time in the bathroom, did you?"

"Shut up." A serve right to Niou-senpai's face would be really nice – except Yagyuu-senpai would get upset and Yagyuu-senpai didn't deserve to be inconvenienced because Niou-senpai was an asshole. Akaya wondered how many people didn't kick the crap out of Niou-senpai just because it would make Yagyuu-senpai sad.

"I heard you two played some video games, too." Niou returned Kirihara's serve with a half-assed lob. Fukubuchou was going to yell at them if they didn't get serious.

"Yeah? So?" Out the corner of his eye, Kirihara saw Marui and Jackal using one of the portable machines to test out a formation. Jackal-senpai spent too much time looking at Marui's ass in that formation, so Kirihara hoped they didn't use it. While he watched, Niou's cross court shot flew right past him and bounced into the fence.

"You know the reason Sanada and Yukimura don't play doubles together, right?" Why did Niou-senpai have to talk when Kirihara was clearly busy with more important things, like studying doubles technique and making sure Jackal-senpai understood that playing doubles wasn't an excuse to keep his hand on Marui's shoulder for that long while they talked about whatever it was doubles players talked about.

"Akaya! Niou!"

Kirihara started and looked guiltily toward Sanada. Of course fukubuchou would monitor them when Kirihara was busy watching Marui-senpai practice. At least when fukubuchou gave them laps, Kirihara wouldn't have to be near Niou anymore. Niou almost always jogged his laps at granny-pace, just to piss fukubuchou off and because he knew that fukubuchou couldn't kick him off the team without risking Yagyuu quitting.

"Twenty laps!"

"Yes fukubuchou!" Pleased that he wasn't going to be running for the rest of practice, Kirihara took off, crossing through Marui's court and giving Jackal a look that said that Kirihara was onto him and that his advances on Marui-senpai wouldn't be tolerated.

"My place after practice for video games," Marui called, snapping Akaya's attention to the other half of the court. Marui's hands looked really nice from far away, soft with long fingers that curled around his racquet. Kirihara knew Marui's hands were rough, but still long, and they would probably feel a lot like his own if they were wrapped around-

The freshman that left that tennis ball in the middle of the damn court instead of picking it up was getting Kirihara's racquet to the knee. Kirihara fell, his momentum skidding him across the court. "I'm fine!" he hollered when Marui and Jackal turned, ready to help him. "Just tripped. I'm cool."

Two hands lifted him up by the armpits. "Yeah, real cool."

Kirihara really hated Niou-senpai. A lot.

  
********

  
 _Night of Doomed Destruction_ was a stupid game, and Kirihara should've been doing homework, but his mom happily let him stay late at a friend's since he never asked and, really, she assumed her poor Akaya was some kind of social leper. The only thing that made the impending 35 on his next exam worth it was Marui, freshly showered, flopping around on the floor in his pajamas.

"Do you think these zombies are accurate?" Marui asked while he ran through a haunted graveyard with some kind of green potion that was supposed to revive Kirihara's dead character. "I mean, skin just doesn't flake off like that – in strips and stuff. It would just fall off, right?" Marui paused the game and held up his arm. "Check it out. If you look really close you see my skin's all these little grids, right? And it's pretty moist." He pushed his arm forward. "Check it out."

Kirihara was proud that he could touch Marui's arm without shaking and without giving in to the weird voice in the back of his head that was telling him that now would be the perfect time to see what would happen if he used his grip on Marui's arm to pull himself on top of his senpai, smashing them both into the hardwood floor. "Yeah, it's moist," he said while he continued to feel up and down Marui's forearm, memorizing how Marui's skin felt, still clammy from a quick shower. "I can't see the grids though."

"You've gotta get closer to see the grids." Marui moved his arm up to brush against Kirihara's nose. "See 'em?"

Kirihara could smell Marui's soap but wasn't sure if it was some kind of floral scent or a berry scent. His brain told him that licking the arm in front of him would solve this mystery, but the driving sound of the game's pause music reminded Kirihara that he was nearly kissing Marui's arm because he was supposed to be looking for skin grids to validate Marui-senpai's zombie theory.

He looked at the arm that smelled too good to belong to a boy. "I see what you mean, senpai." Sure enough, the skin was in little oval grid things. Kirihara quickly scooted back, abandoning the arm and its weird floral berry scent.

"So, the way I see it, the skin flakes off like dandruff." Marui looked to the television. "So all those skin strips've got to go. Cuz really, if I were a zombie I'd be yanking them off." Marui made a tugging motion and said other things, but all Kirihara could hear was _yanking them off_ over and over in his head, coupled with a visual of his own version of Marui's tugging motion.

Eventually, when he was satisfied that Kirihara was on board his zombie theory, Marui went back to the game and revived Akaya's character. Akaya promised to last more than two areas before dying again and Marui promised to take Akaya out for ice cream the next day if they could beat the game before Kirihara had to go home. Kirihara doubted they would, the bandages on the zombies gave them extra reach and Kirihara could never compensate enough for them, but he would give it his best and hope that the school didn't call his mom when he bombed his test tomorrow.

  
*******

  
Kirihara didn't win the ice cream, but he did get grounded for two weeks for a surprisingly high 58 on his exam. Perhaps some of Marui's tensai-ness rubbed off while Kirihara groped Marui's arm, an event that had since mutated in Akaya's mind from a quick touch to a prolonged examination in which Kirihara stroked up and down the arm and Marui's crusty, calloused elbow was smooth. Now, when Kirihara remembered things, Marui-senpai made a lot more noises and didn't talk about zombies.

"Half an hour," Akaya's mother said, pulling up alongside Yukimura-buchou's hospital, one of two places he was allowed during his punishment. "I'll wait for you in the lobby when I’m done shopping."

"Yes ma'am." Akaya grabbed his gift for Yukimura, a nice handkerchief and a chai chocolate bar that he liked, and ran away from the car before his mom decided that she really did need him to carry her shopping bags for her.

The nurses knew him now and waved as he hustled to the elevator. It was still a school day, so fukubuchou would be coming soon if he wasn't already there. If he was, Kirihara's plan to seek advice was shot.

Kirihara knocked before entering because he had manners, unlike Niou-senpai.

"Hey!" Marui waved, hopping off the side of Yukimura's bed. "Aren't you grounded or something?"

Was Marui-senpai talking to Yukimura-buchou? Did buchou say anything? Were they talking about him? Kirihara's mind raced, trying to think of something cool to say. He hadn't planned for Marui-senpai to be here. Had he known, he wouldn't have worn the jeans with the grass stains on his knees. He also wouldn't have worn a Winnie the Pooh t-shirt. "Mom said I could come visit," he said. "I've only got half an hour, though."

"Have a seat, Akaya. Bunta was just about to leave." Yukimura waved as Marui made his exit. When the door closed, Yukimura adjusted, sitting up a bit more, and fluffed his pillows.

As Yukimura's thin arms reached back, straining to lift the pillows, Akaya realized just how bad off his buchou was. Yukimura-buchou probably couldn't hold up a racquet now, not if he was dragging pillows along the bed, trying not to look as frustrated as Kirihara knew he must be. Akaya wanted to adjust the pillows for his buchou, but not even fukubuchou was allowed to help Yukimura unless asked.

"I hear you and Bunta played video games the other day," Yukimura said. "He says you need to work on your quarter circles and your tactics."

"My tactics are fine; Marui-senpai just plays more so he knows where everything is." Kirihara couldn't really say that he spent the entire game fantasizing about what _should_ be happening instead of focusing on what actual _was_ happening. Yukimura would think Akaya was a freak if he heard about how Akaya wanted to give Marui massages during a boss fight for the sole purpose of getting to sit on Marui's ass for a few seconds. It was so tempting to straddle his senpai and 'work out some of the tension in his shoulders' as Marui-senpai lay on the floor, tongue sticking out while he concentrated on beating a vampire with more hitpoints than all of Kirihara's dead characters combined.

"Bunta mentioned something about inviting you over again." Yukimura snickered and patted Akaya's leg. "It would be a good time to tell him."

"Tell him what?" Did buchou know about the things Kirihara was thinking? Did he know what a horrible, horrible pervert Akaya was whenever he saw or thought about or heard mention of Marui-senpai? He couldn't tell Marui-senpai about any of that or the tensai would laugh at him…or maybe run away and ask fukubuchou to give Akaya infinite laps with nobody around but Niou-senpai, mocking him each and every step of the way.

Even though buchou's arms weren't very strong, he whipped his new handkerchief at Kirihara's face with enough force to sting Akaya's nose. "I've spent a good amount of time trying to convince Sanada you're not an idiot; don't waste my efforts, Akaya." He folded the handkerchief back into a neat square. "When he asks you over again, confess. That is an order."

Kirihara gulped, then nodded. "Yes, buchou."


	6. Chapter 6

  
Akaya's grounding did not extend to tennis, though fukubuchou benched him for his low marks and was only allowing him to play one match for the weekend, Singles Three against some loser school. It was better than Marui-senpai, who talked back to Fukubuchou on the bus and was put in Singles 2, or Niou-senpai who was put in Singles One for teasing Yanagi-senpai about some first year photos and his not so cool haircut.

"Hey senpai, matches are running early, so we should go get something to eat when we get back home, right?" Akaya stared at his reflection in the dingy mirror of the public restroom. "Hey senpai," he tried again, "I've got some money left over from lunch this week. Wanna go to one of those buffet things?" Every line he tried sounded faked and an obvious ploy to get Marui alone.

"Tachibana-san! You didn't tell me An-chan was going to be here today! My hair! It's a mess!" A kid in a black hooded sweatshirt ran into the bathroom, followed by a grumpy looking guy with a mole in the middle of his forehead. Akaya washed his hands and checked their uniforms in the mirror: Fudomine, the loser school Rikkai was going to play in half an hour.

"Your hair's fine." The Tachibana kid fixed the whiny kid's hair, even though fixing it didn't do anything to make it less ridiculous. If the loud kid really wanted to fix his hair, he'd go get a haircut.

"Hey Akaya, you alright in here?"

Kirihara froze and almost dropped his handkerchief at the sound of Marui's voice. Kirihara'd dreamt about something like this once. He would take too long in the bathroom and Marui-senpai would come look for him. They'd be alone, so Marui would barricade the door, then push Akaya against a wall and dig his hands under Kirihara's shirt. There weren't spitwads on the ceiling in the dream, or two kids from a loser school, or some really weird stains on the wall where Marui-senpai should be feeling up Akaya.

"Fine senpai, I was just on my way out." Kirihara pocketed his handkerchief and jogged out, grinning at the Fudomine kids as he left.

  
*******

  
The referee was late and Kirihara was annoyed. He had the perfect line, but couldn't use it until after he'd won because it involved victory milkshakes and perhaps some video games if Kirihara told his mother he was going over to Marui-senpai's to get some help on his math again. Victory milkshakes couldn't happen until after the victory, and victory couldn't happen until the stupid ref got up in his chair.

"I'm getting something to drink," Marui said, popping a bubble and rolling his tongue around his lips, collecting stray bits of gum. "Anyone want anything?"

Kirihara dug through his tennis bag, frantically searching for his wallet. He would get whatever Marui-senpai was getting, and offer to come along to carry drinks for the team. If Kirihara's hand just happened to brush Marui's when Akaya handed over his money, it would just be an added bonus.

The team bombarded Marui with requests but only Niou handed over any money because Marui was still in debt for numerous snacks at the previous tournament. Niou-senpai refused to lend money to Marui, even when Marui was standing in the rain, freezing, and didn't have enough bus money to get home. Kirihara heard about it the next day and tripped Niou in the hall. He took a photo of it and sent it to Marui during lunch. Maybe Marui-senpai still had it, just like Kirihara still had the email Marui sent back, thanking him and asking if he wanted a tart from the shop Marui was stopping at tomorrow morning. Kirihara also took a picture of the tart the next morning – it was still the background picture on his phone.

While Kirihara clutched at his wallet, stuck in remembrance, Marui left for the vending machine.

  
*****

  
He might've been a bit kinder during the game if the Tachibana kid weren't a senpai stealing asshole. The jerk grinned at Akaya over the net and extended his hand forward. "Let's have a good game," Tachibana said, his eyes momentarily flitting toward the Rikkai bench.

Kirihara couldn't explain the queasy, stinging feeling that was overcoming him, but it made his arms feel stronger, like he could arm-wrestle fukubuchou and win. The Tachibana kid was acting like nothing had happened, like he hadn't been at a soda machine, touching Marui-senpai's shoulder.

It didn't matter that the machine was broken and Tachibana was kicking it for Marui-senpai; what mattered was that Marui-senpai gave one of the two sodas that fell to the Fudomine captain and not to Akaya, who was on his way over to make sure Marui was okay and not being beaten up by a band of jealous loser school kids. Marui was small and fast, but not that strong. Two guys could take him down, easy.

There was no excuse, though, for Tachibana putting his arm around Marui, patting his shoulder, touching places Akaya had yet to touch. Kirihara was forced to watch Tachibana suckle the drink during the doubles matches while Fudomine was pummeled by the might of Rikkaidai Fuzoku.

"I'll crush you," he whispered to Tachibana as their hands parted and Kirihara spun his racquet. "Which?"

Tachibana remained undisturbed, like a cow, and said, "Smooth."

From the moment the racquet fell, landing rough, to the moment Sanada clapped his hand on Kirihara's shoulder and told him to get his lazy ass on the bus, was a blur. Kirihara remembered flashes of the game, a ball slamming into Tachibana's knee and a weird, dry laugh that escaped his lips every time Tachibana winced at the pain.

When he was back to his senses, he followed behind Sanada, watching the backs of Sanada's shoes as they walked to the bus. "Save it for important matches," Sanada said. "You would've finished faster if you weren't being extravagant."

"Yes, fukubuchou." Kirihara trudged onto the bus and sat in the back, alone. He was vaguely aware that he'd done something wrong, but wasn't quite sure what, and if he'd done something really, really wrong, then how could he show his face to the rest of the team or-

"Your face is gonna freeze that way." Marui flopped down next to Kirihara and handed him a cold bottle of water. "Here; don't dehydrate." He elbowed Kirihara in the side when Akaya failed to process that Marui was actually sitting next to him, being nice and smelling like sunscreen. "If you don't want it, that's cool, but Sanada told me to bring it to you, so just hold it. I don't want him getting pissed at me because you're being weird."

Kirihara grabbed the bottle of water, gripping it tightly to his chest. Marui's knee was touching his, and there were four rows between them and Yanagi-senpai, who was asleep with his head resting against the window.

Marui mistook Akaya's fidgeting and shuffled over. "I'll get back to my seat now," he said, shining that wonderful smile down on Kirihara. "Let me know if you need anything okay? Jackal and Renji are asleep, so it looks like I get to take care of you today."

His hand was around Marui's wrist before his brain had time to tell him he was being stupid. "You can stay back here," he said. "I don't mind, and fukubuchou snores." He didn't let go, even when Marui shrugged and sat back down.

"My wrist's going to get sweaty if you keep holding it like that." Marui nudged Akaya with his elbow. "Drink your water; you're still all red and dehydrated."

Kirihara gulped down his water and wondered if Marui-senpai noticed that their knees were touching again, and that their shoulders were touching, and that Niou-senpai was still awake and shooting Kirihara looks over the backs of the seats. Niou was making kissy faces and mouthing something that might have been 'kiss him' and might have been 'salami.' Either was likely, since Niou-senpai had mental issues and didn't make much sense unless Yagyuu-senpai was there to interpret.

"Stop moving. I can't sleep if you keep moving." Kirihara froze when Marui's arm wrapped around his waist and the tensai snuggled into his side. Marui yawned, letting out a cute chirp. "Wake me up when we're close, okay?"

Over the top of the seats, Niou rolled his eyes and mouthed 'go for it.' Kirihara gave him the finger and settled back into the seat, memorizing the feel of Marui's arm around him and trying not shift too much in his shorts.

  
******

  
Kirihara couldn't sleep that night. He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, rubbing his hand over the spot on his stomach that Marui touched, sliding his fingers down as he imagined what Marui-senpai might have done in the back of the bus were it a dream and were they alone.

He had another week of grounding to suffer through, then he'd go out to lunch with Marui-senpai and confess like he told buchou he would. First, though, he had to figure out what to say and where he wanted to say it.

Ideally, he would confess when they were alone in Marui-senpai's room with the door closed so those beady eyed brats couldn't listen in. He wouldn't force anything on Marui, but would speak his feelings plainly. Marui would reciprocate, of course, and lead Kirihara toward the bed, pulling him close and kissing along his neck. Kirihara would protest, but Marui would insist and, before the evening was through and Kirihara had to go home, they would be entwined on the bed, staring into eachother's eyes and laughing as they explored one another's ticklish spots.

Kirihara would whisper his confession again the next day, just because Marui said he liked hearing it. Then they would stumble into the handicapped bathroom on the third floor, the nice one that everyone was afraid to use because Shinoda-sensei used it and he smelled weird.

"Hey, I can hear you." Kirihara's sister knocked on his door. "Do it quietly if you're going to be gross." Her footsteps drifted down the hall, and Kirihara removed his hand from his pants.

  
******

  
At Monday's practice, Kirihara was useless. As first years swamped around him, asking him about his serve and how it felt to be recognized by Sanada after a game, all Kirihara wanted to do was escape and talk to Marui, but Marui was at home with a cold and probably starving because no one was there to give him snacks five times during the day.

"Just go," Niou said, tapping his racquet on Kirihara's head. "If you're just going to stand around worrying, then just go see him." He looked over to Sanada then back. "I'll tell him you've got diarrhea; you at Marui's stupid chili chips again or something."

Having fukubuchou think he had a wussy stomach was almost as bad as spending the entire practice thinking about Marui-senpai alone and sick in his bed, probably rolling around in his sheets in just his boxers because he was so, so hot that he just couldn't stand it.

"What'd you do to him this time, Niou?" Jackal grabbed Kirihara's shoulders and shook.

Niou pulled Kirihara toward him. "Why do you always assume I've done something. The kid's a space case all on his own."

Jackal grabbed Akaya's wrist and pulled. "We're doing some training, so we'll be going now."

Sometimes Kirihara forgot how strong Jackal was. After being pulled by the arm a few yards, Kirihara's shoulder ached and he was losing feeling to his fingers from Jackal's grip. "Uh, where are we going, senpai?"

"I'm taking you to see Marui. Maybe he'll stop texting me during practice if you distract him with some cookies." Jackal let go of Kirihara's arm and slowed down as they entered the clubhouse. "Go ahead and change and we'll get out of here."

Kirihara threw off his uniform and barely knotted his tie before grabbing his bag and running out to meet Jackal. Even though Jackal managed to change in the same amount of time, his tie was neatly done and his shirt was wrinkle free. Jackal-senpai probably used weird Brazilian magic tricks to keep his clothes pristine. Not even red punch stained Jackal's shirts.

He followed his senpai out of the school grounds and down toward the river. They didn't talk, Kirihara just listened to Jackal hum something with a quick tempo that made Jackal swivel his shoulders as he walked. Finally, when the song was over, Jackal said, "So, you nervous about the game with Seigaku?"

"The match with Seigaku?" Kirihara thought about their rival team and shrugged. "I don't really care about that stuff. They don't match up to us." He thought about the bits of Seigaku's match against Rokkaku that Yanagi-senpai forced him to watch and shrugged again. Who cared about a bunch of wimpy loser kids from a loser school. The only person worth playing at Seigaku was Tezuka Kunimitsu.

"Pretty shocking that Tezuka's already been defeated." Jackal had a bad habit of reading Kirihara's mind. It was annoying.

"It doesn't count," Kirihara said. "He was playing with a busted arm, so it doesn't count. Besides buchou and fukubuchou, he's the only one who plays real tennis." Kirihara knew that beating buchou and fukubuchou was still a long way in coming. He could beat Tezuka, though, and planned to at the next opportunity.

"Hey!"

Kirihara and Jackal turned around to see a short kid in a Seigaku jersey. "You know him?" Jackal asked, crooking his neck to the kid.

"I can play real tennis, too," the short kid said. "Wanna see?"

It took him a moment, but Kirihara finally put a name to the overly smug face before him. Kirihara was in no mood to play games – Marui-senpai was dying of starvation – but he couldn't back down, not when the little kid was grinning up at him with that stupid Seigaku grin.

"Sure," Akaya chuckled, "but it's going to cost you, Echizen Ryoma."

  
*****

  
Worse than being grounded, worse than being benched, worse than Sanada's palm impacting his cheek was the knowledge that a stupid Seigaku kid beat him and that, at the end of everything, Marui-senpai was right there watching. Niou said Marui met the team at the hospital to visit Yukimura, even though he was dizzy and sick. Had Kirihara waited just a little bit longer, he could've stood next to Marui on the roof of the hospital and held hands, or confessed, or just watched Marui smile at the scenery, trying to make buchou feel better.

Now he was a loser, and everybody knew about it.

"Hey." Marui pulled Kirihara out of a stream of students. "Your class is that way, isn't it?" He crooked his finger toward a nearby hall. "Stop spacing out or you'll never be back to normal."

Kirihara blinked and there was a cupcake blocking his vision. "I'm not hungry," he mumbled, pushing it away, not even having the presence of mind to revel in Marui's clammy skin. "Thanks, though."

He didn't expect Marui to hit him, nor did he expect the tip of the cupcake's mountain of frosting to touch his nose. "There's always time for cupcakes," Marui scolded. He studied Kirihara for a moment before grabbing his kouhai by the arm and dragging him outside. "The gates aren't closed yet, so we can still get outta here. We'll go get some ramen, then I'll take you to this really good pastry shop. Their cake always cheers me up when I'm having a crap day."

"Senpai, I have to turn in a-"

Marui spun and put a finger to Kirihara's mouth. "I'll have Yukimura talk to Sanada to get you an extension. We'll say that regionals is stressing you out or something and you needed to take a day off." He tugged on Kirihara's arm, bringing him the final steps through the school gates, past a frowning teacher. "You're already grounded, right? What's a few more days?"

His cheek was bruised from Sanada's slap and he was still fairly certain he was never going to play tennis at Rikkaidai again, but Marui was holding his hand and they were going on something as close to a date as Kirihara could ever hope for. "I've still got some allowance left, senpai, so I'll help pay."

"Awesome." Marui dropped Kirihara's hand and started off on a jog. "If we hurry, we'll still make their two for one morning special!"

Kirihara took off after his senpai, thinking that the pastry shop might just be the perfect place to confess, provided Marui wasn't too distracted by the food. Yukimura-buchou might forgive him the loss if he could make good on his promise –or, at the very least, punish him less severely for it .


	7. Chapter 7

  
Kirihara expected Marui to pack away cakes and pastries like a starved man, but Marui only ordered two slices – one for himself and one for Kirihara. "It's really rich, so it takes a while to eat," Marui said as he inhaled the aroma of the cake. "Don’t eat it with anything but water, though; you'll ruin the flavor." He chuckled and hovered his fork over the slice. "You're going to love it."

Lame lines like 'not more than I love you' wandered through the back of Kirihara's mind and he felt like an idiot. His senpai skipped school to cheer him up and all he could think of were sad, sappy romantic lines he heard on TV. He didn't deserve cake with Marui-senpai, not after-

"Hey, if you're not gonna eat it, then you shouldn't have said you wanted something. It's not cheap, you know." Marui pointed his fork at Kirihara's forgotten cake. "Eat."

"Senpai?" Kirihara cut off the tip of the slice and stared at it. "You ever lose really bad? So bad you think maybe you should stop playing and-"

"Eat." Marui took a long drink of water. "And stop whining; you're ruining my appetite. You don't quit just because you sucked it up one day – not that that's happened. I'm a genius, so I don't have bad days." He leaned his chin on his palm, watching Kirihara take his first bite. "Told you it was good."

Chocolate fireworks erupted in Kirihara's mouth, flooding him with flavor. Everything was wonderful with such a bold, smooth goodness lingering on his tongue and such a bright, patient smile on Marui's chocolate dotted lips. It didn't matter that he had to go to special practices this weekend and sweat away the shame he'd brought to Rikkai's name.

"You think Sanada's been more of an ass lately?" Marui swiped a bite off of Kirihara's cake, even though his own was barely touched. "He yelled at Jackal the other day for missing a shot on the ball machine."

"Jackal-senpai missed? Really?" Jackal never missed on the machines. Jackal never did anything wrong, which was why Kirihara kind of hated him.

"Some girls from the volleyball team were in the gym and he was showing off." Marui's nose wrinkled and Kirihara wanted to run his fingers along the ridges. "He got some laps and an extra hour on the machines." He swiped another bite of Kirihara's cake. "He got five numbers, though, so I guess it was a wash."

Kirihara had numbers from lots of girls in his class. Maybe, if he gave them to Jackal, he could weasel his senpai into ditching Marui during practice and Kirihara could help Bunta do his stretches. He could put his hands on Marui's shoulders and lean forward across his senpai's back and-

"Eat the cake, Akaya, don't just drool on it." Marui grabbed Kirihara's fork and fed him a bite. "You'll make the pastry chef cry if you don't properly appreciate his masterpiece."

"Mhm." Kirihara couldn't think beyond the heat of Marui's hand zapping through the fork, electrifying the cake so it was twenty times as delicious as before. "So good," he laughed with his mouth half-closed. He wanted to skip school and do this every day, just him and Bunta in a quiet shop, feeding cake to eachother and tapping toes under the table.

"Did you just kick me?"

"My foot slipped." Footsy with sneakers on didn't work, apparently. Kirihara was about to give it another go when Marui's cell phone went off.

Dangling the phone by the strap, Marui grinned. "That's Yukimura's ring. How much you wanna bet Niou ratted us out?" The phone continued to chime out the theme to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. "He's probably trying to get me back for the stuff I put in his locker last week."

"Stuff?" Even though he was on the team, the other regulars never let Kirihara join in on their jokes. Nobody told him about anything until a month after it was over. Had Kirihara known about last month's 'chili powder in Bunta's milkshake' prank, he could've beaten Niou up before Marui's lips ever touched the straw.

Marui turned his phone off and pocketed it. "He ran his mouth a little too much when Jackal and I were practicing our formations." He leaned forward, shielding his whisper with a hand. "Let's just say that some itching powder made it into the bottle of lotion in his tennis bag and he experienced some mild discomfort."

Kirihara winced. "That's cruel, senpai." He couldn't help grinning, though, because Niou-senpai deserved it and Marui looked happy when he told the story, which was all Kirihara cared about. He took another bite of cake and savored it while watching Marui stare out the café window. It was hot, so there was a thin layer of sweat on Marui's neck that was slowly condensing into bead that would fall, curving around the tendons that shifted every time Marui swallowed. Kirihara wanted to slide his finger across the moisture and draw pictures on the table with it, or maybe run his tongue across the skin and chase the saltiness with a bite of cake.

"Let's go to my place after this," Marui said, turning back to Akaya. "I still haven't finished my game, and you still owe me some zombie time."

"Uh, senpai, your mom-"

"She's at work. She's the nurse at the brats' school." Marui turned his attention back to his cake. "We should get a piece to go, for after the game."

Kirihara took that as his cue to go to the counter and get their cake, since Marui bought the last round. The cake was expensive, but it meant more smiles and, if he got lucky, Marui might feed him again.

  
*****

  
Kirihara tried very hard not to disappoint Marui by dying in the first five seconds. They were laying in front of the TV in Marui's room, legs pressed together because the television was very small, but the PS2 was already hooked up and Marui didn’t' want to unplug everything and bring it down to the living room.

"Cover me while we go into the warehouse. There's a zombie hoard that spawns to the right and I always get stabbed in the back by a werewolf because he sneaks up while I’m dealing with them."

They were two levels away from the final boss and Kirihara was still alive. And, what was better, Marui-senpai trusted him to guard during important scenes full of werewolf assassins and large killer bees. If they finished up the game before Marui's mom came home, they might even have time to go for a late lunch together at the restaurant of Akaya's choosing.

"This game's really tough, senpai. How'd you beat it on the single player mode?" Kirihara grinned while taking down a small hoard with a flamethrower. Watching them dance around, covered in fire was pretty cool.

"Haven't. I only play this one when you're here. It's boring by myself. Watch out for the witch up ahead; she's got a machine gun." Marui's tongue darted out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on clearing their path.

Kirihara dutifully watched Marui's back, slaying zombies and dodging the witch's machine gun fire. "Hey senpai, if I can live through the game, what're you gonna give me?" He tried to sound sultry, but ended up sounding congested and a little bit sinister.

"You live through the game and I won't kick your ass. How 'bout that?"

He paused the game. "Not good enough." He pressed his leg into Marui's a bit more. The heat of the room was making him a little dizzy, otherwise he'd never dare be this forward, especially when Marui had just been cutting apart undead and seemed more inclined to punch Kirihara in the gut than drop his controller and start snuggling.

Marui turned and regarded Kirihara with a grin. "Oh. I get it."

"You do?" Kirihara pulled his leg away.

"You've been holding out on me so you can steal some of my genius skills." He reached out and tapped Kirihara's nose. "You're a year too late for that." Marui turned and stared at the frozen zombies on the screen. "You're gonna get a hit to the back when we unpause the game. Move to the side and hit that post box. There should be a med kit in it." Marui's leg shifted, pressing into Kirihara's. "If you don't die, I'll tell you a secret, something no one else on the team knows."

"Not even Niou-senpai?"

Marui's toenails dug into Kirihara's ankle. "Why would I tell that asshole anything?"

"Not even Yukimura-buchou?"

Marui's leg slid away. "Nah. If he knew this he'd have Sanada kick my ass."

Akaya reached out and linked their pinkies. "Deal."

  
*****

"Akaya. Focus." Sanada sent another lob over the net and Kirihara watched it arc into the air. Hitting the ball didn't matter. What good was smash practice when the world was falling apart?

"Sorry fukubuchou." He kicked the rolling ball to the side of the court and went to the net, expecting a slap for his impertinence. "I'm not feeling too good," he said when Sanada just stood there, scowling at him.

"Go home. You'll practice late tomorrow to make up for it." Sanada turned to the first years, barking orders for swing practice.

"Hey. Heard you're not feeling so hot." Kirihara knew it was Marui because the air smelled like cherry, and Marui always chewed cherry gum the week before a big match.

"You should tell Jackal-senpai."

Marui shrugged. "If I knew you were gonna freak out, I would've given you another secret. Just forget I said anything. It's no big deal."

When Kirihara was playing a really vicious game of tennis, the world tended to turn into a giant fuzzy mass that swirled around the court like a pinwheel. Now, the world was fuzzy and spinning, leaving him and Marui in the center, standing still as statues. "It _is_ a big deal, senpai!" His fist flew before he had time to stop himself. He felt, in horrible slow motion, his fist impact with Marui's jaw. He saw Marui collapse back onto the court, mouth bloody from knocking against a tooth. "I…" He tried to apologize but nothing would come out. Marui _deserved_ that hit. There was no excuse for-

"You really did a job on him," Jackal whistled, hefting Marui up. Kirihara hadn't even seen him approach.

"He's not going to play next year," Akaya said, voice between a hiss and a sniffle. "He's abandoning us."

Jackal looked from Kirihara to Marui and back. "So?" He shrugged and moved to examine Marui's bloody mouth. "I probably won't either. There's a lot of things to consider in high school. You can't base it all around tennis."

Jackal was out to get him. He was trying to steal Marui-senpai away and ensure that Kirihara's life was miserable – assuming Marui spoke to him again after his mouth healed. "You can't just ignore it, either, senpai. What if-"

"Jackal! Akaya! Laps!" Sanada sent a tennis ball slamming into the court in front of Kirihara. "Marui! Get to the nurse!"

Kirihara peered at Jackal through slitted eyes. "You're a bad influence on Marui-senpai. I don't think you two should play doubles anymore." He ran off before Jackal could respond.

  
*******

  
Marui waited at the school gate for him, even though Niou-senpai said that Marui was going to kill him.

"Yo." He greeted Kirihara with a casual wave. "We should talk. How about I walk you home? We can talk there."

Kirihara thought about his room, about his sister who would think they were there to make out, about his mother who would ask if Bunta was there to tutor Akaya, about his father who would kick his ass if he figured out that Akaya's biggest and brightest dream was to be alone in his room with Marui-senpai and a buttercream cake.

"We can go to my place," he croaked back. "My family'll be there, though."

Marui shrugged. "Better than dealing with the brats." He seemed to be relaxed enough, like he'd forgotten about Kirihara spilling his secret and the punch.

Kirihara reached out, touching Marui's cheek. "Sorry, senpai. I-"

"Have anger issues? Are an ass? I know that already. Forget about it." The wind whipped Marui's hair into his eyes, some strands falling and catching onto the scab at the corner of Bunta's mouth. "It still hurt like hell, though. If you do something like that again, I'll kick your ass. Got it?"

"Got it." Kirihara could take Marui, easy. Bunta was fast, but Kirihara was faster. If they were wrestling, Kirihara was a little more muscular, so he'd have the advantage – so long as he completely ignored the fact that his body was really, really close to Bunta's.

"And it's not like I didn't think about it. Quitting," Marui clarified when Kirihara looked confused. "But I want to be a police detective, so there's lots of stuff I have to learn. I've got to keep my grades up and start taking some extra classes they offer at the police academy. It won't guarantee I'll get in, but I've got a better chance than most people if I take the classes."

Kirihara tried to imagine Marui in a policeman's uniform: the pants, the coat, the hat. His mental Bunta blew a whistle and escorted children across the street. "You'd look really cute, senpai."

It wasn't until Marui said, "I know," that Kirihara realized he was talking aloud.

"I…uh…I…"

Marui laughed and nudged Akaya with his elbow. "I know." The sparkle in Bunta's eyes said he knew more than how cute he was.

Something was crawling in Kirihara's stomach, making him dizzy and a little bit drunk. "Senpai, I…" He could do it. Now. Right now. Before he chickened out and Yukimura-buchou kicked him off the team for being spineless. "Senpai, I like you!"

The words echoed in the street while Kirihara's knees gave out.

He did it.

He did it!

"I _said_ I know. You didn't have to announce it to the whole world." Marui grabbed Kirihara's elbow and hauled him up. "They probably heard you all the way back at school."

"You're blushing, senpai." He reached up and touched Bunta's burning red cheeks. "And you're warm."

This was the moment where they would kiss and Kirihara would lift Marui up into the air and they would spin while the camera panned out and doves flew by, maybe some trumpets sounded.

Or this was the moment the bus came and a lot of elementary school kids stared at them.

"Hurry up and get on the bus," Marui sighed, pushing Akaya toward the entrance. "And stop smiling like that; you look like an idiot."


	8. Chapter 8

Step one: confess. Step two: get Marui-senpai alone. Step three: molest.

It was a fairly clear-cut plan, one that Kirihara had been thinking about for a very long time. The chief problem with it was that, having completed steps one and two, Akaya was still a little confused as to whether or not he should insert step two and a half: get Marui-senpai to confess back.

"You really do read a lot of manga, don't you?" Marui browsed through Akaya's bookshelf and pulled out a volume. "This one any good? I've been thinking about reading it but it's got a lot of volumes so I don't want to read them all if it's going to suck."

"It's okay. It was better at the beginning, though." Kirihara made a note of the manga and resolved to buy Marui the set for their two week anniversary. Or maybe their one week anniversary. Or one day anniversary – as soon as he confirmed that it really _was_ an anniversary and not just him being hopeful.

Marui put the manga back. "Jackal thinks you're going nuts, so don't say weird things around him. We can't practice if he thinks his life's in danger." He searched through his pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. "If you can chill out a little, then maybe we can hang out or something." He folded the stick into his mouth and chewed.

Did hanging out mean touching and kissing or did it just mean playing video games and going crazy because Marui-senpai was _right there_ and _knew_ about Akaya's feelings but wouldn't let him _do_ anything about it? Or maybe Kirihara hadn't made his intentions clear enough.

"Senpai, let's do it."

Marui's bubble popped in time with his fist bonking down on Akaya's head. "Stop being weird. You got any video games? Any snacks?"

Akaya rummaged in his desk for a box of shrimp crackers and tossed them to his senpai. When their fingers brushed, Marui blushed and scooted away. Kirihara smiled and allowed his senpai the space – mainly because he was blushing, too, and his hand was a little shaky.

"Hey senpai, I've got Zombie Bloodbath 3. Wanna play?"

Mouth full of crackers, Marui turned from his contemplation of the floor and nodded. "You're not gonna suck at it, are you?"

Leaning forward, Kirihara brushed a few crumbs from Marui's cheek. "I already beat the single player mode, but the multiplayer has three bonus levels."

Marui leaned his head into Kirihara's palm. "Cool. I get to use the crossbow."

If Kirihara were less of a coward, he would lean in and kiss his senpai. Instead, because any and all bravado fled with the touch of Marui's skin to his, Akaya lunged forward and turned on his Playstation. "Let's hurry, senpai. Maybe we can get through three levels before you have to go home."

  
*****

  
Niou was giving him a look. The look said, "Hey kid, I know what's going on in your perverted brain and everyone heard you confess. Can't you do anything right?"

Kirihara gave back a look that he hoped said, "Shut up!" He was finding that his world, post-confession, was a lot like it was before. Marui and Jackal were still playing doubles and giving eachother inappropriate high fives, Fukubuchou was still an asshole, and Niou-senpai was still a shifty-eyed smartass who didn't know how to mind his own damn business. Marui-senpai and Buchou were the only things that made coming to Rikkai worthwhile.

"Having some trouble?" Niou asked, his hand landing on Kirihara's shoulder like a dentist's apron, immobilizingly heavy.

"No." Niou couldn't get weird ideas if Kirihara stuck to one word answers. Nice, simple answers that weren't lies but that didn't give away that Marui-senpai didn't really like him but was probably humoring him for the sake of the team or something because, when you liked someone, really liked them, then you kissed them or hugged them or did something other than just play video games and go home after a post-game snack.

"He love his snacks more than he loves you?"

"Yeah." The sighed response was out before Kirihara could stop it. "I mean no. Marui-senpai doesn't love his snacks the same way you love people. That's stupid, Niou-senpai."

"Well, you know, if you need some help I guess I could-"

"Back, demon!" Marui-senpai's sweat towel whipped Niou in the face. "Don't fill the kid's head with any of your crap ideas. His mom's already going to kill him for failing English." Pop.

Akaya supposed this was one of those white knight moments. If he played off it right, maybe he could score a kiss. "He was touching me, senpai," he whispered, dashing forward to cling onto Marui's arm. "And he was telling me…things."

"Uh huh. What kinda things?" Marui looked skeptical but wasn't pushing him away so clearly his plan was working.

"He said that you love your snacks more than you love me and that your tennis was for freaks."

Judging from Marui's expression, it looked like he was going to kill Niou-senpai in the night during the next team sleepover. Kirihara was willing to take that risk.

"Only the first part's true," Niou said, unconcerned that Marui's bubble popping was getting louder and more frequent. "He's just trying to get in your pants."

Looking from Niou to Kirihara and back, Marui sighed. "You're both idiots," he grumbled. "Don't you have somewhere to be," he asked Niou, cocking his head toward the doubles court. "Renji said your game was really sucking it up recently. If you're not careful…"

Niou gave Marui the finger and walked off, calling for the freshman to throw him some balls.

"Just don't talk to him," Marui suggested. He clapped Kirihara on the shoulder and sauntered off. "You can buy me some coffee and cake after practice to make up for saying stupid things. Make sure you put on some clothes that don't smell."

Kirihara sniffed his underarms. "I don't smell, senpai! That's only when I put my stuff near Fukubuchou's!"

The thundering _Tarundoru!_ that replied had Kirihara beginning his laps before he even saw Sanada coming.

  
*****

  
They got their coffees to go and wandered around the park. Neither of them said anything; Marui because he was too busy sucking down his drink, and Kirihara because he was afraid the first word out of his mouth would be date, kiss, or something equally as embarrassing.

"Your volleys are shitty," Marui said at last, holding onto his empty coffee cup because the next vending machine, and the next trash bin, wasn't for another block. "I was thinking we should work on them this Saturday, then we can go eat or something."

Tennis wasn't exactly the wild Saturday outing Akaya had in mind, but anything would work so long as Marui was there.

"And I was thinking," Marui continued, "that we'd probably have to do it for a few Saturdays to really drill it into you. There are some good, cheap places that you probably haven't been to, so we can eat at a different place each week. You know, if you show improvement and stuff." Bunta's cheeks were almost a match for his hair as he stared at the ground just in front of his feet.

"Can I count it as a date, senpai?" Even if Marui said no, Kirihara was still calling it a date. There was a togetherness activity and a meal – that was all you needed to qualify for a date in middle school.

"Only if you pay for lunch." A bubble slid out between Marui's lips and, when it popped, it took his blush with it. "And don't tell Niou. He'll want to bring Yagyuu and crash our training."

"Like a double date?"

"Like stealing my genius moves for his own evil purposes. And they'd never pay their half of the tab, so it would drain your allowance." One of Bunta's hands dropped down from his crumpled cup and tapped Akaya's side. "If you can learn some moves, maybe I'll even give you a reward."

"Oh, I've got lots of moves, senpai." Kirihara reached his hand down and grabbed Marui's, giving it a quick squeeze before taking the tensai's cup and throwing it away. "And I don't have any sex diseases or anything, so you don't have to worry about that, either."

Marui stopped walking and shook his head. "My house is that way. I'm going to pretend I don't know you."

Kirihara watched Bunta jog away from him and the battalion of old ladies doing tai'chi in the park. "I'll pick you up on Saturday, senpai!" He waved, even though Bunta couldn't see him. When Marui was out of sight, Kirihara flashed a peace sign to the chattering old ladies and made his way home, humming to himself and with a slight skip in his step.


End file.
